What Triggers Histamine Release: 25 Common Causes You Need to Know

What do mosquito bites, yogurt, and exercise have in common? They can all trigger the release of histamine! And in people with histamine intolerance, these seemingly unrelated factors, as well as a long list of others, may lead to a variety of sometimes confusing symptoms ranging from skin rashes, to mood disturbances, menstrual irregularities and more.

Understanding what prompts histamine release in your body can help you better manage the reactions you have as a result, and more importantly, give you an understanding of how you can better control your symptoms.

Today I’m going to get into some of these common triggers and help you to keep them from leaving you with bothersome – and sometimes debilitating – daily symptoms.

Common Environmental Triggers of Histamine Release

For many people, factors in the environment are the most common causer of histamine release. While you can control your exposure to some of them, others are more difficult to avoid. Detailed below are some of the more prevalent environmental histamine triggers:

Allergens

Environmental allergens are among the most common triggers for histamine release. Pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds can trigger seasonal allergies, while dust mites, present year-round in our homes, continuously challenge our immune system (1).

If your eyes start itching as soon as you walk into a home with pets, they present another environmental factor causing histamine release. Pet dander, especially from domesticated cats and dogs, can prompt immediate histamine release in sensitive individuals (2).

Another common cause of histamine release that comes from the environment is because of bug bites. The venom they inject into your skin when they bite you may cause some sensitive people to have an overactive histamine response. The bite, even though it may not be at all dangerous to your body, like when a mosquito bites you, your body sees it as a threat. As this article explains, it results in more extreme symptoms when compared to a bite in someone who has no histamine sensitivity.

Mold spores are another common trigger within your environment that can lead to immediate or delayed histamine reactions. Mold can often be found growing in damp areas, both indoors and outdoors (3). Your steamy shower or double-glazed windows my trap moisture indoors, leading to sneaky mold spores forming. Even a beautiful forest walk could place you at risk of mold exposure when you walk along and disrupt the mounds of mold, releasing spores into the air.

Physical Factors you May Need to Be Aware Of When It Comes To Histamine Intolerance

While environmental triggers are more obvious, physical factors relating to histamine release can be more obscure. In some people, physical stimuli such as sudden temperature changes, especially exposure to cold air or water, can trigger histamine release (4).

Even seemingly minor physical changes to your skin, for example, can trigger histamine release. When you were a child, did you scratched your skin with your fingernails or a stick to write or draw on it? If you tried that now, you’d probably end up with raised, possibly itchy wheal in the spot? This is known as dermatographism, which can cause localized histamine release (5).

Spending too much time in the sun might also trigger histamine release as part of the body's inflammatory response to UV radiation (6). Even exercise can lead to a histamine response, explaining why some people experience an exercise-induced skin condition called urticaria, which leave you with itching and hives after you exercise.

Food-Related Triggers

If you have histamine intolerance, you likely have a long list of foods you don’t eat because you have reacted to them in the past. Your diet can affect your histamine levels in two ways:

High-Histamine Foods

Many foods naturally contain high levels of histamine, particularly those that undergo fermentation or aging processes. These include:

• Fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha.
• Aged cheeses, especially hard varieties.
• Cured or fermented meats like salami and prosciutto.
• Alcoholic beverages, particularly red wine and beer.
  
  

Histamine-Liberating Foods

Some foods, while not high in histamine themselves, can trigger the release of histamine from the mast cells in your gut. Examples of such foods are:

• Citrus fruits, including oranges and lemons.
• Strawberries and other berries.
• Shellfish and some fish.
• Chocolate and cocoa products.
  
  

For a more comprehensive list of foods that can potentially raise your histamine levels, download the free Low-Histamine Diet Guide:

Get the free diet guide!

 

Medical and Chemical Triggers

For better or worse, chemicals have become a regular part of our lives. We encounter them in one form or another every single day, whether that’s through medication, personal hygiene products, or even the food you eat.

Medications

Medication is supposed to make you feel better, right? For many people this is true. However, drugs we take to treat disease and manage symptoms such as pain, can also cause unwanted side effects. One of those is histamine release.

In people who have enough of the enzymes that break histamine down—diamine oxidase (DAO) and Histamine N-methyltransferase (HNMT)—this isn’t a problem. But if you are deficient in these enzymes, these medical chemicals can make you quite sick.

Some of the medications to avoid if you are sensitive to histamine include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin and ibuprofen, antibiotics, particularly vancomycin, contrast dyes used in medical imaging, and some muscle relaxants used during surgery.

While you may be taking some of these medications, it’s essential to never stop taking them without consulting your doctor. If you believe that they’re affecting you negatively, have a conversation with your doctor to decide on the additional options you have.

Chemical Exposure

Have you ever stopped to count how many chemicals you are exposed to during the day? No?

Well, let’s see, and let’s start with your morning routine. You wake up and have a shower where you use body wash, shampoo, and conditioner. Then you rub lotion into your skin and moisturize your face, before applying all of your make-up. Of course, you spray yourself with some perfume and deo before leaving the house. And that’s just the beginning of your day. Think about going through the rest of your day, waiting on the side of the street to catch your bus to work, breathing in fumes from cars and other pollution. Maybe you drink out a plastic water bottle to stay hydrated or grab a to-go coffee from your local. For dinner, because it has been such an on-the-go day, you pick up your favorite take out and heat it up in the container when you get home.

Unfortunately, these micro exposures to chemicals add up throughout the day. And many of these chemicals can trigger an allergic-type reaction in the body as a result of the histamine release they promote (7,8).

You may come into contact with industrial chemicals and solvents less frequently, but they are also potential histamine triggers (9).

My explanation of the chemicals you’re exposed to on a day-to-day basis is not meant to scare you. I simply want you to be aware of the factors you may come into contact with that may be contributing to excessive histamine load on the body, leaving you vulnerable to the symptoms of histamine intolerance.

Internal Body Triggers

Histamine release is also sometimes triggered by the following factors that come from within your body:

Medical Conditions

Histamine is released when your immune cells encounter a potentially harmful invader. That’s why viral and bacterial infections can increase your histamine levels (10). In a similar way, allergic conditions like hay fever and asthma can have the same effect.

Autoimmune disorders affect immune system function, which might lead to more histamine being released (11). Another condition causing elevated histamine levels is mastocytosis, rare disorder involving abnormal mast cell growth—the cells that make and store histamine (12).

Physiological States

Your body’s response to psychological stress and anxiety causes an increase in stress hormones, which in turn can trigger the immune system and the release of histamine.

In women, hormonal fluctuations during menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause can disrupt your body’s histamine load. And because histamine is involved in the way you maintain your body temperature, your histamine levels can be affected by temperature regulation responses.

Prevention and Management

By preventing the release of excess histamine, you can control the amount of this sometimes problematic compound in your body and be able to better manage your symptoms.

The first step is identifying your personal triggers. Everyone has their own set of histamine-release stimulating culprits. To know your specific ones, start by keeping a detailed diary of symptoms and their potential causes.

When it comes to foods as triggers, an elimination diet can help you figure out which foods may be problematic. Due to the restrictive nature of such an investigation, it is best to do it under the supervision of a healthcare provider.

Get the free diet guide!

 

If you’re struggling to determine what your specific triggers are, you can ask your doctor whether allergy tests would be necessary and helpful to identify patterns in your symptom flare ups based on your symptom diary.

Along with these interventions, consider the following lifestyle modifications:

• Modify your diet to reduce high-histamine and histamine-liberating foods.
• Air purifiers can help reduce your exposure to environmental triggers in your home (13).
• Effective stress management techniques can reduce levels of stress hormones, effectively limiting histamine release.
• In some cases you may need to use medications, such as antihistamines, as prescribed by your healthcare provider.
  
  

25 Histamine Release Triggers

In this article, we have listed 25 possible triggers for histamine release, with a summary detailed below. While it provides a good starting point for identifying the reasons behind your range of symptoms, it is not an exhaustive list.

1. Pollen
2. Dust mites
3. Pet dander
4. Mold spores
5. Temperature changes
6. Pressure on skin
7. Sunlight exposure
8. Exercise
9. High-histamine foods
10. Histamine-liberating foods
11. NSAIDs
12. Antibiotics
13. Contrast dyes
14. Muscle relaxants
15. Cleaning products
16. Perfumes
17. Industrial chemicals
18. Insect venom
19. Mastocytosis
20. Allergies
21. Autoimmune disorders
22. Infections
23. Stress
24. Hormonal changes
25. Temperature regulation
    
    

What’s Behind Your Histamine Release?

Understanding histamine triggers is essential for anyone dealing with histamine-related symptoms. While some triggers are unavoidable, awareness allows for better preparation and management.

Remember that histamine release is a normal and necessary bodily function—the key is maintaining a balance that supports health while minimizing uncomfortable symptoms. With proper knowledge and management strategies, most people can effectively control their exposure to histamine triggers and maintain a better quality of life.

If you experience frequent or severe histamine-related symptoms, consult with a healthcare provider to develop an appropriate management plan.

References
 

1. Beggs PJ. Environmental Allergens: from Asthma to Hay Fever and Beyond. Current Climate Change Reports. 2015 Jun 20;(3):176–84.
2. Pet allergy. Symptoms & causes. Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic. 2021. 
3. Kraft S, Buchenauer L, Polte T. Mold, Mycotoxins and a Dysregulated Immune System: A Combination of Concern? International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021 Nov 12;(22):12269. 
4. Cold Urticaria: What It Is, Symptoms, Causes & Treatment. Cleveland Clinic. 2023. 
5. Nobles T. Dermatographism. StatPearls. NCBI Bookshelf. National Center for Biotechnology Information. 
6. Siiskonen H, Smorodchenko A, Krause K, Maurer M. Ultraviolet radiation and skin mast cells: Effects, mechanisms and relevance for skin diseases. Experimental Dermatology. 2017 Sep 14;(1):3–8. 
7. Khalid M, Abdollahi M. Environmental Distribution of Personal Care Products and Their Effects on Human Health. Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research. 2021 Mar;(1). 
8. Kimber I, Pieters R. Household chemicals, immune function, and allergy: A commentary. Journal of Immunotoxicology. 2012 Sep 7;(2):169–72. 
9. Miller CS, Palmer RF, Kattari D, Masri S, Ashford NA, Rincon R, et al. What initiates chemical intolerance? Findings from a large population-based survey of U.S. adults. Environmental Sciences Europe. 2023 Aug 14;(1). 
10. Potera C. Common Bacterium Induces Histamine Production in Neutrophils. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2012 May;(5). 
11. Fernandez J. Mastocytosis: Mastocytosis. MSD Manual Consumer Version. MSD Manual Consumer Version. MSD Manuals; 2024. 
12. Vijayan V, Paramesh H, Salvi S, Dalal AK. Enhancing indoor air quality –The air filter advantage. Lung India. 2015;(5):473.